1. Challenges for labour statistics
Flex workers in the Netherlands
Challenges for labour statistics

2. Share of flex workers in the labour force

3. Flex work in Europe (EU28), 2016

4. Challenges
Flex workers are a very heterogeneous group→ need for detailed information on different types of flex workers
“New” types of flex workers
Workers on payroll contracts
Dependent self-employed workers
Need for longitudinal information on (flexible) employment relations

5. Data sources on flexible employees
Labour Force Survey
Policy Record Administration (registration of all insured employees and wages, on a monthly basis) combined with other register information

6. Employees with a flexible contract, 2016

7. Payrolling Screening questions LFS 2016→ doesn’t work
Extra code in the Policy Record Administration as from January 2017
Explain payrolling

8. Longitudinal information: careers of flex workers
Cohorts of employees who start in a flexible job are followed monthly up to five years (register information)
Outflow to:
Permanent employment
Self-employment
Out of work, benefits
Out of work, no benefits

9. Duration of flexible employment

10. Later cohorts have a lower transition rate to permanent jobs

11. Cohort 2007: transition rates by educational level

12. Data sources on self-employment
Labour Force Survey
System of registers linking information on enterprises (legal entity) with information on the owner/self employed (physical person) (registers from The Chamber of Commerce, Business Register, Tax Administration, policy record administration)

13. Different types of solo self-employment
Different perspectives on self-employment (tax administration, legal, own judgement)
Self-employed in own company/practice
Pursuing independent activities (e.g. freelancers)
Owner-managers of incorporated enterprises
Main job or side job?
Dependent self employment/fake self-employment
Distinction sells labour/sells products
Questions on motives to become selfemployed LFS
Questions on dependent self-employment
LFS Ad hoc module 2017
Use of administrative data on entreprises/persons (entreprise capital)
Vanwege de verschillende perspectieven geven verschillende bronnen ook andere uitkomsten!

14. Solo self-employed workers (registers), 2015

15. Solo self-employed workers (LFS), 2016

16. Solo self-employed workers with entreprise capital (registers/LFS), 2014

17. ‘Forced’ self-employed workers: motives to become self-employed (LFS), 2017 Q1

18. Economic dependence (LFS), 2016

19. Organisational dependence (LFS), 2016

20. Longitudinal Information on solo self-employed workers
Cohorts of starters are followed yearly (register information)
Labour market position before starting solo-self-employment
Labour market position after stopping solo-self employment

21. New solo self-employed workers

22. Former labour market position

23. Stopping self-employment

24. Further research
Information on billable hours and hourly rates of solo self-employed workers
Linking informations of flex workers and the organisations who hire/employ them:
-Temporary employees/ on-call workers→ Policy Record Administration & Business register
-Temporary agency workers, payroll workers, solo self-employed workers → not possible yet!

25. Conclusion
Policy makers need detailed longitudinal information on different types of flex workers
By combining several sources, both surveys and registers we are able to develop new statistical information on the subject
Biggest challenge: linking information of flex workers to information on organisation who employ or hire flex workers

26. Thank you!